Snap-on cap

ABSTRACT

A fly fishing reel is disclosed which allows for a simplified construction allowing for reversibility of the drag effect on a spool to facilitate left- or right-hand operation without disassembling small parts which can be lost in the boat. The spool structure is strengthened by virtue of a tapered design. A snap-on cap doubles as a support for a spring that holds the spool to a shaft.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of this invention relates to design components of fishingreels, particularly those useful in fly fishing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fly fishing reels have been in use for many years. These reels have haddevices to impede rotation of the reel in a given direction. Generally,these mechanisms have provided a fixed or variable drag in one directionand little or no resistance in the opposite direction. A wide variety ofmechanisms has been used to accomplish the drag force on the fishingreel. These devices in the past have involved gears and pawls. Typicalof such designs are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,578,978; 4,168,041; 1,811,073;2,551,567; 3,136,497; 2,783,001; 3,478,977; 3,574,339; 4,515,325; and4,527,753. Many of these structures had to be partially disassembled ifthe direction of the applied drag was to be reversed. Accordingly, someof the prior designs, such as that illustrated in U.S. Pat. No.2,578,978, would apply drag in a single direction through the contact ofa leaf spring on a pawl which was secured by a slot straddling a pin.Thus, when the line was being wound onto the spool and the gearillustrated in FIG. 3 turned in the direction of arrow B, a reducedresistance from the pawl 4 was encountered, as compared to rotation inthe opposite direction A where the leverage exacted on the pawl 4 by theleaf spring 5 provided a greater resistance to paying out the line.However, this design did not accommodate conversion from left-hand toright-handed operation without disassembly of parts. Accordingly, one ofthe objectives of the present invention is to provide a drag system thatallows for simple conversion from left- to right-handed operationwithout disassembly of parts. To facilitate such flexibility, a pawldesign has been developed which selectively applies more drag in arotation in a first mode than in a reverse rotation in a second mode. Bymerely manipulating a pawl without disassembling it, the direction ofrotation of the reel, which will encounter the enhanced drag, can bereversed. Accordingly, a simple design is provided to facilitate left-and right-handed operation as one of the objectives of the presentinvention.

In the past, fly fishing reels have had generally opposed parallel endplates. Such structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,489,457;2,486,559; 3,779,477; 1,612,177; 3,989,204; 2,569,322; and 2,598,846. Inthese prior designs, the usual construction has involved parallel outerfaces on the spool segments, which has resulted in undue flexure andlack of structural rigidity in a construction where lightweight is ofsignificance. Accordingly, it is another object of the present inventionto provide a spool whose sidewalls are initially parallel and then taperoutwardly away from each other to provide greater structural strength.Additionally, the lightweight nature of the spool is retained butstiffened at the outer periphery for support of the handle without undueflexure of the spool wall.

In prior designs, end caps that had been used in fly fishing reels tosecure the assembly of the spool to a shaft have been screwed into thespool hub. This method of fastening the end caps has been inconvenientfor the fishermen because when it came time to disassemble the spoolfrom the shaft, small parts could be dropped and lost. Thus, a moreconvenient method of disassembly of the fly fishing reel was needed toimprove on the fastening techniques illustrated in the prior art whichinvolved small parts. Typical of such prior designs are U.S. Pat. Nos.4,883,238; 2,548,317; 3,986,679; 3,490,714; 2,993,660; 2,689,691;2,523,827; 4,461,435; 3,526,370; and 3,591,107.

It is thus another object of the present invention to supply a snap-onend cap which requires no separate fasteners. Another objective of thepresent invention is to secure a leaf spring which maintains therelative position of the spool with respect to the supporting shaft withthe snap-on end cap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A fly fishing reel is disclosed which allows for a simplifiedconstruction allowing for reversibility of the drag effect on a spool tofacilitate left- or right-hand operation without disassembling smallparts which can be lost in the boat. The spool structure is strengthenedby virtue of a tapered design. A snap-on cap doubles as a support for aspring that holds the spool to a shaft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevational view of the fishing reel of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is the view along lines 2--2 of FIG. 1, additionally showing thereel foot.

FIG. 3 illustrates the attachment of the reel to the shaft.

FIG. 4 is an alternative to the drag assembly illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is another alternative embodiment to the drag assembly shown inFIG. 2, showing the reversible feature.

FIG. 6 shows yet another alternative embodiment to the drag featureillustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 illustrates the details of the spring used to secure the reel tothe shaft, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a section through the snap-on cap.

FIG. 9 is a front view of the cap of FIG. 8, showing an opening at theedge for a slot.

FIG. 10 is a detail of FIG. 9, showing the retaining slot for a leafspring which holds the hub to the shaft.

FIG. 11 is a larger, more detailed view of the hub and shaft shown inFIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The basic components of the fishing reel F can be seen from FIG. 1. Thetype of reel illustrated is primarily used for fly fishing, althoughother types of reels illustrating the described structures or variantsthereof are considered to be within the purview of the invention.Referring now to FIG. 1, a spool 24 is mounted over a stub shaft orspindle 6. A screw 22 secures the spindle 6 to the frame 10. As shown inFIG. 2, screws 14 secure the frame 10 to a reel foot 12. The reel foot12 is used to secure the fly reel F to a rod (not shown). The spool 24is able to rotate with respect to spindle 6 due to the presence ofbearings 26 and 28. The spindle 6 has on one end a shoulder 18 whichabuts the frame 10. At the opposite end of the spindle 6 is a conicalterminating portion 20. A cap 40 is snapped onto the spool 24 such thatis covers over the conical end portion 20, as shown in FIG. 1.

It should be noted that the snap-acting feature of the cap 40 makes itsimple to remove and replace and eliminates a threaded connection whichcan become hard to make up after periods of use and exposure to theelements. Additionally, by using the snap feature of the cap 40, afastener is eliminated and a neater design is presented which is easierfor the fisherman to use.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the cap design in more detail. The cap 40 iscircular and has an internal circular groove 70, as shown in FIG. 8. Thegroove 70 fits over a circular tang or rib 72 to secure the fit of thecap 40. The cap 40 has a circumferential opening 42, as shown in FIG. 9.Opening 42 further has a groove or catch slot 44, as shown in FIG. 10.The construction of the retainer, in the preferred embodiment being aspring 30, is shown in FIG. 7. The lower end 74 extends into adepression 76 in the cap 40, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 9. The spring 30then has a short transverse segment 78 which hooks around a pin 80trapping cap 40, as shown in FIG. 3. Finally, the spring 30 has a longextending middle portion 82, with a loop 84 at its upper end. As shownin FIG. 3, the long segment 82 extends through opening or slot 42 and istrapped in the groove or catch slot 44 within the opening 42. Whenplaced in that position, the long segment 82 engages a groove 36, asshown in FIG. 11. Groove 36 is on the spindle 6 such that when the longsegment 82 of the spring 30 extends therethrough, hub 34 is secured tothe spindle 6. The contact point to accomplish the securing function isillustrated in FIG. 3 as 38.

A drag mechanism is provided in a variety of embodiments. The dragmechanism is used to provide resistance to spool rotation withselectively more resistance if the spool 16 rotates in one direction asopposed to the opposite direction. As seen in FIG. 11, the hub 34 has aratchet gear 46 attached thereto. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, mounted tothe frame 10 is one embodiment of a drag assembly. A cam 56 is securedby a fastener 57 for rotatable movement by an exterior knob 58, as shownin FIG. 1. Leaf spring 52 is a biasing member that bears against the cam56 and engages pivot studs 54. At least one pawl 48 is mounted on acorresponding stud 50, while the ends of the spring 52 bear on the pawlor pawls 48. It should be noted that FIG. 2 shows an embodiment with twopawls, while FIG. 6 shows a single pawl embodiment. One or more pawls incombination with springs or biasing members, as shown, can be usedwithout departing from the spirit of the invention. In the preferredembodiment of FIG. 2, two pawls 48 are used, each respectively pivotingaround a stud 50.

The cam 56 has surfaces 60 and 61 which are at different distances fromthe pivot pint 57. As a result of rotation of the cam 56 via knob 58mounted to the housing or frame 10, surfaces 60 or 61 present themselvesopposite segment 62 of spring 52. In the preferred embodiment, spring 52is a leaf spring. It can be seen that since surface 60 is further awayfrom the pivot point 57 than surface 61, that aligning surface 60 withsegment 62 of leaf spring 52 will put a greater force on the pawls 48,making them generally more resistant to turning when the teeth of theratchet gear 46 are trying to click past. This is shown clearly in FIG.6 where the teeth 47, when the gear 46 is rotating in a counterclockwisedirection, are required to displace in a clockwise direction the pawl 48against the force of the end of the spring 52.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 5 and 6, it can be seen that thepawl 48 has a particular shape so that it presents more drag on the reelonly for one given direction of rotation and presents no resistance orminimal resistance in the opposed direction. This feature is illustratedin the pawl of FIG. 5 which, for clarity, has been labeled with theletters L and R to indicate the given directions of turning of the gear46 for which there will be increased resistance. The areas of pawl 48where the interaction with teeth 47 occurs is shown as an "angle.""Angle," as used herein, includes other end shapes that interact with agear 46 or other equivalent contact area on spool 24. As seen in FIG. 5,the pawl 48 is set up to provide a greater drag force when the gear 46is turning in the clockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow 59. Tobetter understand the operation, the various surfaces of pawl 48 will beidentified. Pawl 48 comprises of surface 86, a first biasing surfacehaving components 88 and 90, and a second biasing surface havingcomponents 92 and 94. As seen in FIG. 5, the first biasing surface has afirst component 88, generally aligned with spring 52, and a secondcomponent 90, misaligned with spring 52. Angle L, when engaged to gear46, is disposed on the opposite side of pivot 50 from first component 88and generally on the same side of pivot 50 as second component 90 beforerotation begins. These same relationships apply when angle R is incontact with gear 46 as to surfaces 94 and 92.

In the position shown, when the ratchet gear 46 is trying to rotate in aclockwise direction as shown by arrow 59, the broad, long edge 88 issitting up against the leaf spring 52. It thus takes significantly moreeffort for the teeth 47 to rotate the pawl 48 around the pivot point 50.This is to be contrasted with ratchet gear 46 turning in a oppositedirection from arrow 59, i.e., counterclockwise, when in the positionshown in FIG. 5. When the ratchet gear 46 turns counterclockwise, theteeth 47 are trying to turn the pawl 48 in a clockwise direction ontosurface 90. Because surface 90 is recessed away from leaf spring 52,less resistance to clockwise rotation of the pawl 48 is offered when inthe position shown in FIG. 5. Exactly the opposite of the above is truewhen the pawl is arranged such that the corner marked R is in engagementwith the teeth and surfaces 94 and 92 are adjacent the leaf spring 52.

It can be seen that the pawl 48, whether one or more are used, issecured through the pivot connection 50 and can be easily rotated by afisherman upon removal of the hub 34 from the shaft 16. This can beeasily accomplished by pushing back the loop 84 on the spring 30 (seeFIG. 3). When the long segment 82 comes out of the slot 44 (see FIGS. 3and 10), the hub 34 slides easily off the shaft 16, exposing access tothe drag assembly including pawl 48 and leaf spring 52. At this time,pawl 48 can be rotated while still secured by pivot connection; 50.

The embodiment in FIG. 4 is operationally identical to the embodimentshown in FIG. 5 except that the leaf spring 52 extends beyond the pawl48 to the side wall 71 of frame 10. This construction providesadditional support for the spring 52 since it is no longer cantileveredas shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 2, 5, and 6.

An immediate advantage is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artin that the design of the pawl, including a left- or right-hand dragfeature, can be easily converted from left drag to right drag by simplypulling the hub 34 out of the frame 10 and manually pushing away theleaf spring 52 and quickly rotating the pawl 48 to put it in theposition where it is shown in FIG. 5 or in the other position where thecomer marked R is in contact with the gears 47. Since the pawl 48 isattached at pivot 50, this represents an improvement over past designsin that it is simple and small parts need not be detached to convert thedrag from left-hand to right-hand orientation.

Another feature of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and11. Referring now to FIG. 11, it can be seen that the spool 24 has agenerally tapered construction so that the outer ends 73 and 75 flareaway from each other as one moves radially outwardly from the hub 34. Onthe outer portion of the spool 24, the wind crank 77 is secured with afastener 79. For additional strength, to allow palming for added drag,the cross-section at the end 75 of the spool 24 is generally U-shaped.This provides an external stiffening rib which reduces flexing whenoperating the crank 77. The U-shaped end segment 75, in conjunction withthe outward taper of the spool 24, adds structural rigidity to theassembly, thus reducing flexing and facilitating ease of use of the flyfishing reel F.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention areillustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size,shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustratedconstruction, may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

We claim:
 1. A fishing reel assembly, comprising:a frame having aspindle; a spool supported on said spindle; a snap-fitted end capmounted to said spool to assist in retaining said spool to said spindle.2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein:said spool comprises a rib; and saidcap comprises a circumferential opening and said cap is snap fit oversaid rib.
 3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein said opening defines acatch slot.
 4. The assembly of claim 3, wherein said hub comprises agroove aligned with said catch slot.
 5. The assembly of claim 4, furthercomprising:a retainer extending into said groove and extending throughsaid circumferential opening in said cap.
 6. The assembly of claim 5,wherein said retainer se cures said spool to said spindle when an end ofsaid retainer is placed into said catch slot.
 7. The assembly of claim6, wherein said retainer comprises a flexible spring with an end securedby said spindle, a middle portion extending through said groove, and anupper segment thereof extending from said cap while selectively trappedby said catch slot.
 8. The assembly of claim 7, wherein said groove onsaid spindle is circular.
 9. The assembly of claim 1, wherein:said spoolcomprises a circular rib; said cap having a circular groove internallythereto to snap over said rib to secure said cap.
 10. The assembly ofclaim 1, further comprising:a retainer secured by said spindle andinteracting with said spool and said cap to secure said spool to saidspindle.
 11. The assembly of claim 10, wherein said retainer is securedin position by engagement of an opening in said cap.
 12. The assembly ofclaim 11, wherein said retainer comprises a spring which cansimultaneously engage said spindle and be biased into a catch slot insaid cap.
 13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein said spring comprises anelongated member which passes through a groove on said spindle andextends beyond said catch slot on said cap so that it can be easilydisengaged from said catch slot and said groove for release of saidspool from said spindle.